is a series of action-adventure games created by Keiji Inafune. It was originally developed by Capcom in 2006 until Capcom Vancouver took over developing the franchise and Microsoft Studios took over the publishing rights. As of December 31, 2025, the game series has sold 19 million copies worldwideCAPCOM | Game Series Sales and is currently Capcom's sixth most successful intellectual property.
Setting The games in the franchise take place in fictional cities, although real cities are mentioned. The first game takes place in a large shopping mall in the town of Willamette, Colorado. The prequel for the second game Case Zero takes place in Still Creek, a small town near Las Vegas, while the main game takes place in Fortune City, a casino mall. The epilogue downloadable content Case West takes place in a Phenotrans facility nearby. The third game takes place in Los Perdidos, California. Dead Rising 4 takes place again in Willamette with a zombie outbreak happening in the Willamette Memorial Megaplex which was constructed to honor the victims of the first game's outbreak.
The setting stems around the misconduct and subterfuge of the American government; whose primary stance in game portrays them as the main antagonist of the series, given the extents they go to bury their involvement with the creation of the zombies. Phenotrans, a multimillion-dollar pharmaceutical company which creates and distributes Zombrex, a medicine that can, if taken daily, prevent an infected person from turning into a zombie, acts and serves as a secondary antagonist in the story. There are also organizations like C.U.R.E. (Citizens for Undead Rights and Equality), which fights for the civil liberties of the zombies, and the ZDC (Zombie Defense and Control), representing an anti-zombie police force to prevent outbreaks.
Protagonists
Frank West
Voiced by Terence J. Rotolo (Dead Rising, Dead Rising 2: Case West, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite), Ty Olsson (Dead Rising 4), Peter von Gomm (Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars), Rikiya Koyama (Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Project X Zone), Scott McNeil (Puzzle Fighter), and portrayed by Rob Riggle (Dead Rising: Watchtower).
Frank West is the protagonist of Dead Rising, Dead Rising 2: Off the Record and Dead Rising 4, and is the secondary protagonist of the downloadable expansion Dead Rising 2: Case West. He also appears in the film Dead Rising: Watchtower. Frank West is a freelance photographer and photojournalist who has covered many world events, wars, and other big stories. Looking for the next big scoop, he stumbles onto some strange events happening in the small town of Willamette, Colorado. While not the most polished and professional person in his field, he is strong, genuinely kind and decent, and always operates on instinct. Frank is capable of handling himself in combat and helping other survivors to safety.
In his non-canonical appearances, Frank West is the main protagonist of the remakes Dead Rising: Chop till you Drop (Wii remake of the original Dead Rising) and Dead Rising 2: Off the Record (remake of the second game), as well as of the mobile game, and he is also a playable character in Super Ultra Dead Rising 3′ Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Plus Alpha.
Chuck Greene Voiced by Peter Flemming and portrayed by Victor Webster (Dead Rising: Endgame).
The protagonist of Dead Rising 2 and all of its downloadable contents as well as a supporting character in Dead Rising 3, and having a cameo in the film Dead Rising: Endgame. Chuck is introduced in Dead Rising 2 as a former motocross champion and an extremely resourceful mechanic, able to repair and construct anything he can imagine. Chuck arrives at Fortune City, Nevada, to take part in Terror Is Reality, a controversial sports entertainment game show where contestants kill zombies for cash prizes. Chuck wants the prize to have money to buy an expensive medicine called Zombrex, which only if taken daily is able to suppresses the zombification process of his daughter Katey, who was bitten by her zombified mother during a previous outbreak in Las Vegas.
In his non-canonical appearances, the co-op player of Dead Rising 2: Off the Record always controls Chuck, within the same game a second Chuck appears as a psychopath having gone crazy after the death of his daughter, Chuck is also playable in the downloadable content Super Ultra Dead Rising 3′ Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Plus Alpha.
Nick Ramos Voiced by Andrew Lawrence. The protagonist of Dead Rising 3. Nick is an orphan-turned-mechanic who works for Wrench O' Rama in the city of Los Perdidos. While he has excellent mechanical skills, Nick has difficulties formulating plans and acting under pressure. Many details of his life remain a mystery, but a distinctive physical trait is a tattoo of the number 12 on his neck (This is later revealed that he is one of the test subjects of Carlito in the Santa Cabeza outbreak, along with his friend Diego. And his blood contained the cure for the zombie infection). Despite his shortcomings, Nick is a friendly young man who holds his friends in high regard, especially his boss Rhonda, who is about the closest thing he knows to a mother. Nick also has a crush on a girl named Annie. The co-op player of Dead Rising 3 controls a character called Dick.
Chase Carter Chase Carter is the protagonist of the films Dead Rising: Watchtower and Dead Rising: Endgame. The character is also a journalist.
Games
Main series
The game displays the health bar, the level, the number of zombies killed, depleting bars telling how much time until each mission becomes unavailable, and the current item (which turns red when the weapon is about to break). The games work within a 72-hour schedule which happens in an in-game time, every event happens within a specific hour. The story happens within a city infected by hordes of zombies and various hostile survivors, and each subsequent game has allowed for more zombies to be displayed on screen, at the same time.
The melee combat system consists of using everything as a weapon, most of the items in the game can be used, as some weapons are very effective, but others are comedically inefficient, in addition weapons constantly break forcing the player to constantly use different weapons. Dead Rising 2 introduced a "Combo Weapons" system, where the player can combine certain items into more powerful weapons, some of which are over-the-top, such as a lightsaber, made by combining a flashlight with jewelry. Dead Rising 3 enhanced the mechanic by introducing "Combo Vehicles" allowing players to combine items with vehicles and even vehicles with other vehicles to make more powerful vehicles, for instance a motorcycle with a chainsaw creates the "slicecycle", a motorcycle with two chainsaws at the sides.
Players can level up by performing mission objectives, which consist of progressing on the main story, rescuing and leading survivors to safety by guiding them to the safe house, and also fighting psychopaths whom are civilians who either have become criminally insane after the zombie outbreak or are taking advantage of it for their own purposes. Leveling up increases the health bar, walking speed, unlocks melee combos, and reveals weapon combinations. Customization allows the player to use different clothes, spread all around the mall, which vary from a sports fan attire, to pajamas, to dresses, to a male stripper outfit, to a Mega Man cosplay.
All games feature multiple endings, completing all the missions in the main story is the only way to get the true ending. Since the second game, all games except for Dead Rising 4 feature two player co-op online multiplayer in the story mode, with the fourth main game only including a competitive multiplayer mode.
Dead Rising (2006)
The first game in the Dead Rising series. The game centers on Frank West, a photojournalist who ends up trapped in a shopping mall in the fictional town of Willamette, Colorado, that is infested with zombies. Players can use everything as a weapon. The game story works in a 72-hour clock, with another in-universe 24 hour post game chapter. In total, there are six endings, titled F through A, with Ending A being the only one to unlock the aforementioned post-game; rendering it the game's canon finale.
Dead Rising 2 (2010)
The second game in the Dead Rising series. Set in the fictional casino town of Fortune City, Nevada, five years after the events of Dead Rising, the game follows former motocross champion Chuck Greene trying to clear his name after being framed for starting the outbreak in Fortune City, while simultaneously trying to keep his daughter alive with a drug called Zombrex that prevents an infected individual from turning into a zombie. The "72-hour" system returns. The major gameplay improvement over its predecessor is the Combo Weapons system, allowing Chuck to combine certain items by using crafting tables. In addition survivors AI was also improved. The Main story can be played in 2 player online co-op, with the second player controlling a second Chuck. Players can earn money by playing the online multiplayer mode "Terror is Reality".
Standalone downloadable games: two downloadable standalone expansions were released for the game, for Xbox 360. Since March 2017, both are backwards compatible with Xbox One, although unlike the main game, none of the expansions were remastered.: The first Case Zero (2010): Released a month before the main game, Dead Rising 2: Case Zero serves as a prologue and "demo" to the main game. Set a few years before Dead Rising 2, Chuck Greene is stranded in a small town named Still Creek and has to fight his way out with his daughter Katey. While the second, Case West (2010): The downloadable content serves as an epilogue for Dead Rising 2, Chuck with the help of Frank West, go to a Phenotrans facility to get evidence to clear Chuck's name.
Dead Rising 3 (2013)
The third game in the Dead Rising series. Set ten years after Dead Rising 2, the story follows a young mechanic named Nick Ramos and his attempt to survive a massive zombie outbreak in the fictional city of Los Perdidos, California. The time system returns. Combo Weapons can be fused anywhere, as crafting tables were removed, and the crafting system was also expanded by introducing "Combo-Vehicles". While there is no sandbox mode, like in "Off the Record", similar challenges can be found during the Story Mode. Survivors were upgraded to be able to use "Combo Weapons". Like in the previous game, the main story can be played in 2 player Co-op Online Mode where the second player controls a character named Dick.